NOTHING CAN STOP A BULLET

We bought the Royal Enfield at Lucky Enfield Garage in Arambol. There were only two 500 cc Royal Enfields available and Ilse and me decided to get a big one that could carry us both. The owner convinced us it was a great bike and we paid him the Rs 95.000 for it. I wanted some extra’s on the bike and we had a few weeks to test the bike. I ordered a Ladakh Rack, leg protection and went to look for metal boxes and a set of tools. I also wanted a high backrest like on a chopper. I found  welder in Panjim who allowed me to use his tools and workshop so I could prove I could make the backrest within one hour. I did it in 45 minutes and got it for free. It proved to be a great asset for Ilse. The log ride through India was extremely comfortable for her.

It took some time to get the boxes made. The engine was making a strange ticking noise and I went with the problem to Lucky Enfield Garage. We decided to open up the engine to see what could be the problem and the worse was the case. it’s piston was screwed. A new piston was needed and costed us Rs 7500 to replace the old one. It is well known that bike you buy in India are screw ups, but Lucky really ensured us the bike was tip top. It was of coarse too late to address the previous owner. This was a bummer. Also the sprocket suddenly missed some teeth and the gearbox was leaking. Not a nice move from Lucky Enfield Garage!

Even after the last big checkup before we left to cross India Lucky Enfield Garage didn’t mount the carburettor  properly so we had to stop by a garage 50 km further on our road to fix it. You got to check everything with them. They even put a copy sprocket on the bike that created another problem a few days later. The sprocket is made from soft steel and after the bike started making a terrible noise I saw that the sprocket had no teeth anymore, they were all grinded off.

No, you got to be careful with these guys. They are for sure very helpful and sympathetic, but you just can’t believe what they are saying…

When you buy a Royal Enfield you need some paperwork.

Check if you got a NOC! Many bikes go without an NOC. You will not be able to sell the bike locally, only to other foreigners! This means that it will be harder to find a buyer which will reduce the price for your bike.

NOC paper

What is NOC?
NOC (No Objection Certificate) is a certificate which is needed to submit in the new state in case you transfer your vehicle from your home state, where your vehicle is registered, to another state.

eg. When you transfer your bike from Karnataka to Delhi, you need to get NOC from Karnataka RTO. Only with NOC you can change your address and can re-register your bike as per rules of Delhi state.

NOC is also mandatory when you buy a used vehicle from other state. In this case the buyer needs to get the NOC from the seller.

How to get NOC?
First of all you need to have the following documents before applying for NOC.

1. Original RC Book
2. Insurance Certificate
3. Four copies of Form 28 with Chasis number pencil print
4. A court fee stamp of Rs 4.
5. Police clearance certificate from the local police station. (It is to state that the vehicle is not stolen or it has no criminal records. It is CRB (Crime Record Beuro) in Tamil Nadu. So the name changes from state to state.)
6. No Objection Letter from the financier if it is under lease/hire purchase.

Along with all the documents mentioned above and a receipt of NOC payment, you need to apply for NOC at the RTO, where your vehicle was registered. You will be delivered the NOC within 7 days by post.

Now with the NOC and other required documents you can apply for change of address and re-registration in case you shift your vehicle to a new state for more than one year. In the new state you need to pay lifetime tax as well. So after getting registered and getting the new number with the new state you can apply for refunding the tax you paid in the home state.

If there is no NOC with the bike you will not be able to sell the bike to someone who wants to put the bike on their name. This might be all Indian people! If there is no NOC, the price goes down severely.

Ownership registration card

If you have the registration card the size of a creditcard that goes with the license plate, you can consider yourself the owner

Insurance paper

You can get an insurance for about Rs 1000 a year at an insurance agent.

Pollution Check paper

The Non Polluting Vehicle mark is a mandatory certification mark required on all new motor vehicles sold in India. The mark certifies that the motor vehicle conforms to the relevant version of the Bharat Stage emission standards.[1][2] This certification for a brand new vehicle has a limited validity of 60 months from the date of sale of the vehicle. After this, the vehicle has to be tested afresh. The vehicle is tested in the car companies garage during the years maintenance and a renewed certificate has to be obtained. The certificate thus issued on a used vehicle is the Pollution Under Control certificate.[2] This process has to be repeated at a predecided frequency. The frequency varies for different class of vehicles. The emission standards applicable in this eventual testing is not the latest in effect, but the one valid for the respective year of manufacture of the vehicle.